Amazon is retiring very old Kindle e-readers—those made before 2013—so their owners won't be able to download new books anymore, though they can still read what's already on the devices. If you own one of these older Kindles, you'll need to upgrade to a newer model if you want to keep buying and reading new titles, which is frustrating for people who've relied on these devices for over a decade.
Google's YouTube is now letting people create AI-powered digital copies of themselves that can appear in videos, complete with their own face and voice. This makes it much easier to produce videos without having to film yourself repeatedly, though it also raises real concerns about deepfakes and scams targeting people your age who may not immediately spot a fake version of someone they know. Worth knowing: if someone contacts you claiming to be a friend or family member in a video message, it's wise to verify through a separate phone call or text before trusting what you see.
Google's AI assistant Gemini is adding a new "notebooks" feature that lets you gather all your files, notes, and past conversations about a project in one organized place, so the AI can better understand what you're working on. This means when you're planning a home renovation, researching a health topic, or managing a hobby, you can keep everything related to that project together and ask Gemini smarter questions based on all that context. You can start trying this out by creating a notebook in Gemini for something you're currently working on—like a vacation you're planning—and adding relevant documents or notes so the AI becomes a more helpful assistant for that specific task.
Poke is a new AI tool that lets you automate everyday tasks—like scheduling reminders or organizing information—simply by texting it what you need, without downloading apps or learning complicated steps. For someone in your age group, it could save time on repetitive chores and make technology feel less intimidating since you're just having a conversation rather than navigating menus.
Amazon is shutting down its service for Kindle e-readers made in 2012 and earlier, which means those older devices won't be able to download new books anymore. If you own one of these older Kindles, you'll still be able to read books already on the device, but you won't be able to add anything new—worth knowing if you're thinking about upgrading or have an old Kindle sitting around at home.
# Summary
Every smart device you own—from your fitness tracker to your doorbell camera to your car's GPS—creates a trail of personal data that police and prosecutors can potentially access and use against you in court, yet there are surprisingly few laws protecting your privacy or controlling how they use that information. This matters because even innocent activities like your location history, health data, or home security footage could one day be twisted to incriminate you, depending on who's in power and what they decide to investigate.
You can start protecting yourself by checking the privacy settings on your connected devices, being thoughtful about which apps you grant location or camera access to, and asking your lawyer if you ever face legal trouble what data authorities might have collected about you.
A criminal group has been caught selling spying services to snoop on people's phones and steal their Apple iCloud passwords through fake login pages. You can protect yourself by being cautious when clicking links in unexpected emails or texts, and by enabling two-factor authentication on your Apple account—a second verification step that makes it much harder for thieves to break in.
Motorola has quietly raised prices on its affordable phones by 30 to 50 percent across the board, with the new Moto G Stylus jumping $100 to $500 despite minimal upgrades from last year's model. Budget phone shoppers are feeling the squeeze everywhere as manufacturers add AI features and face higher production costs, making even "affordable" phones increasingly expensive. Worth knowing: if you're considering a new budget phone, comparing older 2025 models still available at their original prices might offer better value than these 2026 versions.
Researchers have created a smart contact lens that can both monitor the pressure inside your eye and release glaucoma medication directly where it's needed, potentially catching this sight-stealing disease before it causes permanent damage. This matters because glaucoma often sneaks up unnoticed—half of people don't know they have it until vision loss appears—and the new lens could help detect and treat it early, when your eyesight can still be saved.
Worth knowing: If you're over 60, have family history of glaucoma, or haven't had eye pressure checked recently, ask your eye doctor about getting screened, as early detection remains your best defense today while this technology continues development.
Amazon is shutting down access to its book store for older Kindle devices made in 2012 or earlier—meaning you won't be able to download new books starting May 20th, though you can still read what's already on them. If you've held onto one of those older Kindles because you loved the physical page-turn buttons or keyboard, this is the moment to decide whether to upgrade to a newer model or switch to a different way of reading digital books. Worth knowing: if you reset an older Kindle to factory settings, you won't be able to sign back into your Amazon account on it, so avoid doing that if you want to keep using the device.
Rural hospitals and clinics are being pushed to buy expensive AI tools that sound impressive but don't actually solve their real problems—like not having enough doctors or nurses, or patients who can't easily get to appointments. The article warns that chasing flashy technology instead of fixing what's broken right now means rural patients will continue struggling to get decent care.
A recent study suggests that AI scribes—software that automatically writes down what happens during doctor visits—might be making healthcare more expensive, but experts who've examined the research say the evidence isn't actually convincing. The real concern is that if AI scribes do increase costs without improving care quality, they could make medical bills harder for patients to afford, especially as these tools become more common in hospitals and clinics.
Worth knowing: if your doctor's office starts using an AI scribe, ask whether it's helping them spend less time on paperwork so they can focus more on you, rather than just generating longer visit records that increase your bill.
